SEATTLE (Aug. 3) - Lucas Oil Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan made his best run of the weekend in the first round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals on Sunday at Pacific Raceways, but it wasn't enough to get past Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Coughlin, the reigning Pro Stock champion, recorded a 6.565 at 210.67 to outrun his fellow Ohio native. Morgan's pass of 6.646 seconds at 210.73 mph was nearly five-hundredths of a second quicker than his top qualifying lap, but he fell short by a little more than a tenth of a second.
"It's good that we made a good run today, but we need to start there on Friday," Morgan said. "If we start with that kind of a run, we can work on it and it get it better for Sunday and get a little closer to these guys. We have been working through things and getting the car better, even though you can't see it yet. We'll be all right."
The addition of veteran driver/mechanic Tommy Lee to the team before Denver has added a level of stability, and Morgan believes there will be improvement over the remaining eight races of the season.
Plus, Morgan has some changes in store for his engines that should improve horsepower.
"I've got to determine whether I want to run this car as high (rpm) as I do or not," Morgan said. "If I run it high, I've got to put valve springs on every run. I've got to figure something out there."
Morgan worked through clutch issues in Friday qualifying to snare the No. 13 spot on Saturday. He got better on Sunday, gradually increasing engine rpm to match the clutch tune-up.
Against Coughlin, Morgan said he could have been even quicker.
"I just ran through the clutch," Morgan said. "I could turn the selector up on the engine rpm or I would've been better off. That probably would've picked us up two- or three-hundredths right there."
Morgan returns for his sponsor's race, the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Aug. 15-17 at Brainerd Int'l Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
